Local News

It started with singing and it finished with chainsaws loud enough to hear throughout the corridor. Squamish Days were on last weekend and organizers are calling it one of the best in recent memory.

Federal control of harbour would have meant better response, says Bruusgaard Sylvie Paillard spaillard@squamishchief.

A local environmentalist said industry should not be based so close to the sensitive ecosystem of the Squamish Estuary, following the industrial accident that caused thousands of litres of bunker C fuel to escape from the fuel tank of the Westwood An

The sale of a six-acre prime commercial lot owned by the BC Mining Museum to Macdonald Development was passed by members of the Britannia Beach Historical Society at an Extraordinary Meeting held in Vancouver on Tuesday (Aug.8).

A District of Squamish lot exchange of Business Park property will assist in the development of commercial and light industrial facilities, including a possible bingo hall.

The District of Squamish is warning the public to stay away from Nexen Beach, the Squamish estuary and the windsurf spit because of hazardous "rogue oil" or "tar balls". "It's a precaution," said Acting Mayor Mike Jenson.

Bunker C fuel oil, 29,000 litres of which poured from a tank on the Westwood Anette into the Squamish Estuary, is also known as Type 6 heating fuel oil in Canada and No. 6 fuel oil in the United States.

As rogue oil oozed from the Westwood Anette last Friday, kiteboarders and windsurfers in the Sound helplessly watched the black sludge moving towards their playground.

Around two-thirds of the 29,500 litres of bunker C fuel that escaped from a ruptured fuel tank of the Westwood Anette on Friday (Aug. 4) has now been mopped or vacuumed up, said government and agency representatives taking part in the clean up.

The mountain bike trail known as "Farside" was closed last week due to an expanding gravel pit, and the president of SORCA said the event is an example of the growing need for a trail strategy in Squamish.